Shoe-last.



A. G. LEGG. SHOE LAST.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1 907. 946,235.- Patented Jan. 11,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. G L

OE L .APPLICA FILED NOV. 25. 1907.

I 946,235. Patnted Jan. 910.

BET ET 2.

- Zdzinessesf Y [Ia/6212222 Maw 445w I and heeloutwardly and maintainthem in a I fill the shoe and maintainit in proper form.

adapted to fill the shoe and thus keep the {hereinafter re erred to.here nafter referred to.

PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED G. LEGG, 'OF BROCKTON, MASSAGHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 CHARLES S.PIERCE,

' OF BROGKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-LAST.

Specification of Letters Iatent. Patented Jan. 11, 1910.

- Application filed November 25, 1907. Serial No. 403,615.

TOYLZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED G.- Luce, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brockton, county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented'a certain new and useful Improvement in Shoe-Lasts, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved shoe form.

Shoe forms as now made, which are fore part,- sides andheel distended insubstant ally the same position which they occupy when the shoe is onthe foot of the wearer are so far as known to me so constructed thatthey may be slipped into the shoeand then. mechanically adjusted'so asto fill the shoe and press the'fore part, sides distended position. Thisadjustment is effected by the operator mechanically and. it is not onlymore or less complicated and expensive in construction but is liable tobe so used as to apply too great a pressure to the. interior of the shoeto the injury thereof.

By the employment of my invention I provide an automatically adjustableshoe form which maybe readily inserted in the shoe and which will expandsufiiciently to The invention will be readily understood from thefollowing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings forming a part hereof, and the novel features thereof arepointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of thisspecification.

Inthe drawings Figure l is a side View partly in section of a shoe formembodying my invention; the rearwardly pro ecting portion which extendsinto the heel of. the shoeybeing shown in an inclined position and incontact at its rear end with the back of theshoe near the top of thecounter the shoe being indicated in dotted lines. Flg. 2 is a similarview with the portionwhich extends into the heel of the shoe hearingabout. midway of theback of the heel portion. Fig. 3 is a top view of ashoeform embodylng my invention. Fi s. 4 and 5 show modifications.

Fig. 6 is a detail The fore part of my"shoe form indicated at A andwhich is intended to fill the for-- ward portion of the shoe ,as alsothe shank portion as is shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2 is preferaby ashell formed from material which may be molded to shape, such forexample as leatherboard or the like material and which will after, beingmolded to shape set and harden so as to present sufficient rigidity andstrength to firmly hold the shoe in place when inserted therein. At therear portion thereof and on each side thereof I secure, preferaby byriveting, a stud 2, see

Fig. 6, having a riveted head 3 on the outside of the form. The stud 2projects inwardl y atsufficient distance to accommodate one side or leg4 of the yoke shaped piece which extends rearwardly into the heel of theshoe when the form is in position and also a spiral spring 5 hereinafterdescribed, and the inner end .of the stud is provided with a relativelylarge head 6 which serves to keep the said leg 4 and spring 5 inposition thereon. The yoke shaped piece which extends into the heel andserves to keep the latter distended is preferably made from a strip ofmetal of yoke shape and comprises the curved rearward portion 5' and thetwo legs 4. The legs 4 are slotted lengthwise near their free ends at 7,the studs 2 passing through the said slots. The inner end of eachof thelegs 4 is turned at right angles as shown at 8, Fig. 6 the offsetportion serving as a convenient point of engagement for the end of thespring 5. The slot 7 permits movement of theyoke-sh'aped heel piece onthe stud 2 lengthwise of the shoe. The spring 5 which is preferably aspiral spring is bent around the stud-2 so as to be held in engagementtherewith, is then bent down-: wardly in preferably two convolutions and.the other end is passed upwardy and bent over the olfset portion'8 atthe inner end of the leg 4 as shown Figs. 1 and 2. The tendency of thespring 5 is to press the yoke shaped part outwardly forcing the curvedpart 5 against the inside of the. heel port on of the shoe when the formis in position therein. By placingthe yoke shaped part and the spring onthe stud in the manner described the yoke shaped part may be swung onthe said 'stud2 as a pivot and may be set in the shoe so as to bear atthe back of the shoe near the to of the counter asjshown 4 Fig. 1, or itmay e swung downwardly into project across slot 7. By thisarrangementthe yoke-shaped the position indicated by dotted lines at 9,Fig. l, to engage the rear portion of the shoe at or near thesolethereof.

, My invention as will be clear, is not limited to a hollow form or oneof a precise shape, or which s made from any special material. The partinstead of being hollow, as shown 1, 2, and 3, may be solid, as shownFig. 5, and made from any suitable material as wood or metal. The forepart of the form, shown at A, may be lengthened or shortened so as tofill a greater or less proportion of the whole length of the shoe as maybe desired. The precise method of securing and mounting theautomatically adjustable heel port-ion (what I have herein termed theyoke shaped part) may be varied without departing from my invention.

As will be obvious the range of expansion of the form may be increasedor diminished by increasing or diminishing the length of the slot '7 andproviding a spring of corresponding size and power and the pressureexerted by the form within the shoe may be adjusted as desired by usinga spring of greater or less power.

In Fig. l I have indicated a modified form in which the ends 4 of theyoke shaped heel portion are placed in a slot or recess 10 a spiralspring 11 being placed in the bottom of said recess and operating toforce the part 4: outwardly away from the fore part of the form. The leg4 is slotted as shown at 7, anti a pin 12 is set in the fore part so asto the recess 10 and through the heel part may be forced forward towardthe toe of the form against the pressure of spring 11 and when releasedthe spring 11 will operate to force the said heel part in the oppositedirection to engage with the in side of the heel part of the shoe. Itwill be noted that in this modification the yoke shaped heel part cannotbe *swung vertically upon the pin 12 as a pivot, capacity for verticalswing is not however an essential of my invention, although I prefer toembody the invention in such form that the rear or heel part may beswung vertically if desired.

Still another modification of the invention isshown Fig; 5 in which thefore part A may be either solid or hollow or partly solidQ In thisconstruction the automatically expansible or adjustable heel part 4 ismounted upon two legs or projections, one of which is shown at'li. Theseprojections are secured in the fore part one at or near each side.thereof in any suitable way and the stud and spiral springsarrangementheretofore described and which is jmore clearly shown in Fig. 6 isemployedwith the exception that the position of the spring is preferablyreversed sedans thereof is uppermost when the form is in position in theshoe. Vith this exception the construction is the same as heretoforedescribed in connection with Figs. 1 and 2 and the mode of operation isthe same.

In using my improved shoe form it is only necessary to insert the forepart A into the fore part of the shoe compress the form. thatis forcethe skeleton or yoke shaped heel part inwardly toward the fore partagainst the pressure of the expanding spring, swing the heel partinwardly into the position desired if a. pivoted heel part is employedas in the preferred form, and then release the heel part which will beforced outwardly by the action of the spring into contact with theinside of the heel portion of the shoe, this expansion of the formserving to expand the shoe, as when filled by the foot of the wearer andto maintain it in this expanded form under the tension desired. Toremove the form it is only necessary to force the heel part forward ortoward the toe part, swing the heel part upwardly and pull the fore partout of the shoe, or in case the heel part, iswnot constructed to swingon its pin or pivot force the heel part inwardly toward the fore partand hold it in that position while the form is being removed from theshoe.

My improved form may be speedily inserted or withdrawn from the shoe,will automatically adjust itself to the shoe and will exert thenecessary pressure to expand or distend the shoe to its proper shapewithout distorting or injuring it.

hat I claim is,

1. A shoe form comprising a fore part and a heel part, the heel partbeing transversely curved at its rear to engage the counter of the shoeand having two forwardly projecting legs which are respec- .tivelyengaged with the fore part at opposite sides thereof. substantially incontact with the lining of the shoe, and having elongated slot and guideconnection therewith whereby the form may be expanded and contracted inlength, and a spring which normallytends to hold the parts in theexpanded posit-ion.

2'. A shoe form comprising a fore part and. a heel part-,said heel parthaving for wardly extendinglegs the forward ends of which are pivotallysecured to said fore part on opposite sides thereof and which haveelongated slot and pin connectionwith. said -fore part at opposite sidesthereof, and

springs which tend to force said heel part away from said fore part tokeep the shoe -form distended within the shoe.

3. A shoe form comprising a fore art and a skeleton heel part ofsubstantially yoke shape the legs of which have lengthso that the spiralportion wise slots engaged by pins on the fore part and springs securedbetween said pins and said legs which tend to force said heel part awayfrom said fore part.

4. A hoe form comprising a fore part and a heel part, said heel partbeing transversely curved at its rear to engage the lin-- ing of thecounter .of the shoe and having to hold the'parts in the expandedposition.

A shoe form comprising. a fore part and a heel part, said heel partbeing transversely curved at its rear to engage the lining of thecofunter of the shoe and having two forward y projecting legs which arerespectively connected with the said fore part at opposite sides thereofsubstantially in contact with thelinin of the shoe, the connection ofeach of sai legs with therespective sides of the fore part beingexpansible, means for guiding the expansive andcontracting movement anda spring which normally tends to holdthe parts in the expanded position.

6. A shoe form comprising a fore part and a heel part, sald heel partbeing transversely curved at its rear to engage the lining of thecounter of the shoe, and having two forwardly projecting legs which arerespectively connected with the said fore part at opposite sidesthereof, the connection of each of said legs with the respective sidesof the fore part being expansible and a spring connected with each ofsaid legs whereby the parts are normally held in the expanded position.x

7. A shoe form comprising a fore part and a heel part, said heel partbeing transversely curved at its rear to engage the lining of thecounter of the shoe andhaving two forwardly projecting "legs which arepivotally and expansibly connected with the said fore part at oppositesides thereof substantially in contact withthe lining of the shoe and aspring which normally tends to hold the parts the expanded position.-

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED G. LEGG.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM A. MAcLEoo, ALICE H. MoRRIsoN.

